This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-119894, filed Apr. 18, 2001, in the Japanese Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy figure, and in particular to a small-sized toy figure.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, capsules each of which contains component parts of a small-sized toy figure, for example, an upper half body, a lower half body, and a skirt of the toy figure, therein, are sold.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the small-sized toy figure contained in the capsule comprises an upper half body 50, a lower half body 60 and a skirt 70, which are molded parts made of synthetic resin. The small-sized toy figure is constituted, as follows. The upper half body 50, the lower half body 60 and the skirt 70 can be separated from each other. A projection 51 is provided at a lower end surface of the upper half body 50. A concavity 61 in which the projection 51 is fitted is formed at an upper end surface of the lower half body 60. When the projection 51 is fitted into the concavity 61, the upper half body 50 is connected to the lower half body 60. The skirt 70 is stayed at a hips portion of the lower half body 60. The skirt 70 comprises a front skirt piece 71 and a back skirt piece 72, which can be separated from each other.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the small-sized toy figure may comprise a skirt 80 an upper portion of which are held between the upper half body 50 and the lower half body 60.
As described above, in case the skirt 70 is stayed at the hips portion, and in case the upper portion of the skirt 80 is held between the upper half body 50 and the lower half body 60, it is easy that the front skirt piece 71 and the back skirt piece 72 of the skirt 70 get out of fit rightward and leftward or are separated from each other forward and backward, and also a front skirt piece 81 and a back skirt piece 82 of the skirt 80 get out of fit rightward and leftward or are separated from each other forward and backward. In order to prevent the above-described cases, when projections 73 are provided at the back skirt piece 72 which is one piece of two skirt pieces, and concavities 74 in which the projections 73 can be fitted are formed at the front skirt piece 71 which is the other of two skirt pieces, the projections 73 are fitted into the concavities 74. As well, when projections 83 are provided at the back skirt piece 82, and concavities 84 are formed at the front skirt piece 81, the projections 83 are fitted into the concavities 84. In cases, the projections 73 and the concavities 74, and the projections 83 and the concavities 84 are generally provided at edge portions of the skirt pieces 72 and 71, and edge portions of the skirt pieces 82 and 81, respectively.
However, when parts of the toy figure are molded, it is necessary to take a shrinkage cavity of molded parts made of synthetic resin into consideration.
That is, in case the skirt pieces 71 and 72 are molded, the skirt pieces 71 and 72 are shrunk by the shrinkage cavity. As a result, the case occurs that the projections 73 provided at the back skirt piece 72 are not fitted into the concavities 74 formed at the front skirt piece 71 well. In the case, because it is impossible to effectively prevent the skirt pieces 71 and 72 from getting out of fit rightward and leftward or being separated from each other forward and backward, the attraction of the small-sized toy figure is lost.
Further, in order to prevent a right and left gap and a front and rear space from occurring between the skirt pieces 71 and 72, it is necessary to fit the projections 73 into the concavities 74 exactly. However, the case occurs that measurement errors of the projections 73 and concavities 74 are caused by the shrinkage cavity and the projections 73 are not fitted into the concavities 74 well.
The above-described problems occurs not only in case the small-sized toy figure comprises the skirt but also in case the small-sized toy figure comprises a pair of trousers having trousers pieces which can be separated from each other forward and backward.
The present invention was developed in view of the above-described problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a toy figure comprising a structure suitable to put on and take off a skirt or trousers.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a toy figure comprises:
an upper half body (for example, an upper half body 20 shown in FIG. 1) comprising a body concavity (for example, a concavity 21 show in FIG. 1) which is formed at a predetermined position on a lower end surface thereof so as to have a small diametrical concave portion (for example, a small diametrical concave portion 21a shown in FIG. 2) and a large diametrical concave portion (for example, a large diametrical concave portion 21b shown in FIG. 2) below the small diametrical concave portion;
a lower half body (for example, a lower half body 10 shown in FIG. 1) comprising a body projection (for example, a projection 11 shown in FIG. 1) which is provided at a predetermined position on an upper end surface thereof so as to be fitted in the small diametrical concave portion of the body concavity; and
a bottom (for example, a skirt 30 shown in FIG. 1) comprising a front bottom piece and a back bottom piece which are capable of being separated from each other forward and backward and which have external half ring-like cylindrical projections (for example, half cylindrical projections 31a and 32a shown in FIG. 1) for covering a lower portion of the body projection from a front and a back so as to be fitted in the large diametrical concave portion of the body concavity.
Herein, the toy figure means a toy formed so as to imitate a human, an animal, an animated character or the like. Further, because the body concavity has the small diametrical concave portion and the large diametrical concave portion below the small diametrical concave portion, the body concavity is formed in a shape like an inverse xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d. Furthermore, the external half ring-like cylindrical projections of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are projected to the exterior of the bottom, and make a circle when the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are connected to each other.
According to the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, the external half ring-like cylindrical projections provided at the bottom are fitted in the large diametrical concave portion of the body concavity, and the body projection provided at the lower half body is fitted in the small diametrical concave portion of the body concavity. As a result, because the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece which are capable of being separated from each other forward and backward are not only held between the upper half body and the lower half boy but also fixed by the fit of the external half ring-like cylindrical projections in the large diametrical concave portion, it is possible to more effectively prevent the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece from getting out of fit and being separated from each other.
Further, because the body concavity of the upper half body is formed in a shape like an inverse xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d, a pin made of metal, for making the shape like an inverse xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d at the predetermined position of the upper half body has a shape like an inverse xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d. Therefore, a bottom portion of the pin is strong. As a result, it is possible to reduce a danger of the pin""s bending, warping or breaking, and to reduce a necessary cost for a maintenance of the pin.
Preferably, in the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, a bottom concavity is formed at one of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece, and a bottom projection is provided at the other of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece so as to be fitted in the bottom concavity.
According to the above-described toy figure, the bottom concavity is formed at one of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece to position the one of them to the other of them, and the bottom projection is provided at the other of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece to position the other of them to the one of them. However, because the bottom concavity and the bottom projection are provided in order to position the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece to the utmost, it is sufficient that the bottom projection is loosely fitted in the bottom concavity. As a result, because it is sufficient even if the accuracy of the measures of the bottom concavity and the bottom projection is low, any problem is not caused by the large or small measure""s error.
Preferably, in the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, a bottom concavity is formed at a predetermined position of a concavity-side""s contact portion at which the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are contacted with each other, of one of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece, and a bottom projection is provided at a predetermined position of a projection-side""s contact portion at which the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are contacted with each other, of the other of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece so as to be fitted in the bottom concavity.
Preferably, in the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, a bottom concavity is formed at a predetermined position of a concavity-side""s inseam portion at which the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are contacted with each other, of one of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece, and a bottom projection is provided at a predetermined position of a projection-side""s inseam portion at which the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece are contacted with each other, of the other of the front bottom piece and the back bottom piece so as to be fitted in the bottom concavity.
Preferably, in the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, the bottom is any one of a skirt and a pair of trousers.
Preferably, in the toy figure of the first aspect of the present invention, the upper half body, the lower half body and the bottom are molded parts made of synthetic resin.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a toy figure comprises:
an upper half body (for example, an upper half body 20 shown in FIG. 1 or 6) comprising one of a body concavity having a large diametrical concave portion (for example, a large diametrical concave portion 21b shown in FIG. 2 or 6) and a small diametrical concave portion (for example, a small diametrical concave portion 21a shown in FIG. 2 or 6) formed at a predetermined position on a bottom surface of the large diametrical concave portion, and a body projection (for example, a projection 11 shown in FIG. 1 or 6), at a predetermined position on a lower end surface thereof;
a lower half body (for example, a lower half body 10 shown in FIG. 1 or 6) comprising the other of the body concavity and the body projection at a predetermined position on an upper end surface thereof so that the body projection is fitted in the small diametrical concave portion; and
a bottom (for example, a skirt 30 or 30xe2x80x2 shown in FIG. 1 or 6) comprising a ring-like cylindrical projection (for example, half cylindrical projections 31a and 32a or 31axe2x80x2 and 32axe2x80x2 shown in FIG. 1 or 6) for covering a portion of the body projection, which is not fitted in the small diametrical concave portion so that the ring-like cylindrical projection is fitted in the large diametrical concave portion, at an external upper surface thereof when the body projection is provided at the lower half body and the body concavity is formed at the upper half body (for example, a case shown in FIG. 1) or at an internal upper surface thereof when the body projection is provided at the upper half body and the body concavity is formed at the lower half body (for example, a case shown in FIG. 6).
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, a toy figure comprises:
an upper half body (for example, an upper half body 20 shown in FIG. 7 or 8) comprising one of a large diametrical concavity (for example, a large diametrical concave portion 21b shown in FIG. 7 or 8) including a body projection (for example, a projection 11 shown in FIG. 7 or 8) provided at a predetermined position on a bottom surface of the large diametrical concavity, and a small diametrical concavity (for example, a small diametrical concave portion 21a shown in FIG. 7 or 8), at a predetermined position on a lower end surface thereof;
a lower half body (for example, a lower half body 10 shown in FIG. 7 or 8) comprising the other of the large diametrical concavity including the body projection and the small diametrical concavity at a predetermined position on an upper end surface thereof so that the body projection is fitted in the small diametrical concavity; and
a bottom (for example, a skirt 30xe2x80x2 or 30 shown in FIG. 7 or 8) comprising a ring-like cylindrical projection (for example, half cylindrical projections 31axe2x80x2 and 32axe2x80x2 or 31a and 32a shown in FIG. 7 or 8) for covering a portion of the body projection, which is not fitted in the small diametrical concavity so that the ring-like cylindrical projection is fitted in the large diametrical concavity, at an external upper surface when the large diametrical concavity is formed at the upper half body and the small diametrical concavity is formed at the lower half body (for example, a case shown in FIG. 8) or at an internal upper surface when the large diametrical concavity is formed at the lower half body and the small diametrical concavity is formed at the upper half body (for example, a case shown in FIG. 7).
Preferably, in the toy figure of the second or third aspect of the present invention, the bottom comprises a front bottom piece and a back bottom piece which are capable of being separated from each other forward and backward, the front bottom piece comprises a front half of the ring-like cylindrical projection, and the back bottom piece comprises a back half of the ring-like cylindrical projection.